19 October 2017: Sustainable mobility is crucial for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to the report titled, ‘Global Mobility Report 2017: Tracking Sector Performance.’ It was published by the Sustainable Mobility for All (SuM4All) initiative, a global partnership that aims to achieve sustainable mobility and help implement the SDGs. The report includes the first-ever global assessment of the transport sector and its contribution to a sustainable future.
The publication covers all transport modes. It concludes that the world is “off track” to achieving sustainable mobility, explaining that universal sustainable mobility will require greater coherence within the sector, in order to support decision making and influence investment.
The report identifies actual as well as desirable indicators, which provide the basis for the ‘Elementary Global Tracking Framework for Transport’ that will track performance by countries towards sustainable mobility in support of the 2030 Agenda.
The report tracks progress towards sustainable mobility in, and includes proposed targets on, four main areas: universal access, which seeks to provide everyone with access to transport, ultimately meeting everyone’s mobility needs; efficiency, which aims to ensure that transport demand is met in a cost-effective manner; safety, which seeks to avoid fatalities, injuries and crashes; and green mobility, which aims to reduce air and noise pollution, and address climate change, thereby contributing to SDG 13 (climate action).
The proposed targets and indicators are based on and complement the SDG indicators, establish a baseline for future tracking towards sustainable mobility, and provide the sector with information and tools on which to base policy and investment decisions. As the transport sector’s indicators and data are scarce, the report identifies both actual and desirable indicators, which provide the basis for the ‘Elementary Global Tracking Framework for Transport’ (GTF) that will track performance by countries towards sustainable mobility in support of the 2030 Agenda.
The report illustrates how realizing the SDGs will depend on advances in mobility. For example, sustainable transport systems are necessary to provide food security (SDG 2 (zero hunger)), healthcare (SDG 3 (good health and well-being)), access to schools (SDG 4 (quality education)) and employment for women (SDG 5 (gender equality)). The report also highlights the two SDG targets directly related to transport, namely SDG target 11.2 (providing access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all) and 3.6 (halving the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents).
The report will be updated every two years to enable governments to measure progress made on sustainable mobility.
The SuM4All Secretariat is run by the World Bank, and helps shepherd the Consortium of over 50 organizations, and the Steering Committee, which includes representatives from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), International Transport Forum (ITF) and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). [DESA Press Release] [Global Mobility Report Landing Page] [Global Mobility Report 2017: Tracking Sector Performance] [SuM4All Website]